Harvard repeats as Eastern Sprints heavyweight champ

Sunday

May 18, 2014 at 11:08 PMMay 19, 2014 at 12:58 AM

By Carl Setterlund CORRESPONDENT

WORCESTER — Sunday marked the first time since 1962 that the Harvard University crew team graced Lake Quinsigamond without legendary coach Harry Parker, a Fitchburg native and the Crimson's heavyweight headman for the last 51 years.

Parker died of cancer at age 77 last June, just over a month after attending last year's Harvard sweep out in Worcester. The Crimson honored his memory Sunday night, winning exactly the way they did in Parker's final Eastern Sprints.

Harvard beat Brown University in the varsity heavyweight eight grand final, holding off the Bears' late push, 5:27.277 to 5:28.998. The victory in the regatta's final event again pushed the Crimson into a tie with Brown for the Rowe Cup at 35 points each with the tiebreaker of varsity eight champion sending Harvard to the team win.

"We never went below 40 strokes per minute, which our coxswain (Will Hakim) didn't tell us until after the race, so we were just pretty gassed," said senior Andrew Reed of Wayland, who rowed third seat. "We made a big push at the 750 (meter mark) and just tried to go as hard as we could the whole way down."

Harvard's former longtime lightweight coach, Charley Butt, took over Parker's position last August and he said could feel the presence of Parker on the shoreline ("Somehow he knows," Butt said), as Harvard claimed its fifth straight Rowe Cup.

The Crimson beat Brown by 5 seconds in the varsity heavyweight eight final last year, while Bears had nipped Harvard the prior year in 2012, winning by three-tenths of a second in what has tuned into a competitive rivalry in recent years.

"First of all, 'a great day' was one of Harry Parker's favorite expressions and it was a great day because look how hotly contested the heats were," Butt said on Sunday.

Butt, who rides his bicycle along Lake Avenue to keep up with the race, watched as Harvard set the pace and held the lead throughout on a day with strong tailwind.

"All year we've been very fast off the blocks," said bowman Peter Scholle of Chestnut Hill, one of three in-state seniors on the heavyweight eight along with Hakim.

Sterling native Ethan Borchelt attended Brown after graduating from St. John's, and the senior capped his final major competitive race on the his hometown course by taking part in the Bears' first-place third varsity heavyweight eight team (5:37.250).

Similar to Harvard, Cornell University swept the varsity lightweight eight (5:39.417), and the lightweight points trophy, racking up 34 to win the Jope Cup.

Big Red finished top three in all four lightweight events, meaning every rower got to go home with a medal, something Cornell coach Chris Kerber said he was proud of.

"It goes deep into our core values of what we're about. Every guy earned every seat. Every guy thinks about the team and it's all about the race day," Kerber said.

Two-time defending Jope Cup champion Yale finished second place in both the varsity eight final (5:40.349) and in points (29). Butt's lightweight squads at Harvard had won the varsity eight final the previous three years from 2011 to '13.

The varsity lightweight eight final was even more contested than the heavyweights as Princeton and Columbia both finished just over two seconds off Cornell's pace.

"We were in the crosshairs," Kerber said. "We knew about it. We expected there to be some heroism, even on our part, but we had just an awesome crew this year,"

On the docket ahead for both teams are the IRA National Championships in New Jersey in roughly two weeks, starting on May 30. After that, Harvard will complete its season with the 149th Harvard-Yale Regatta on June 7 in New London, Connecticut.

"We have two weeks to go before we all meet again and three weeks before the granddaddy of them all," said Butt.

Yale was ranked No. 3 in the most recent USRowing poll, with Harvard one spot behind it. The Bulldogs finished in ninth place with just 10 points on Saturday, but took part in only two of the five heavyweight races, and just one grand final.

At the end of the regatta, Butt and Kerber both received their ceremonial toss into Lake Quinsigamond. It was the first time for Kerber, and the first time as heavyweight coach for Butt.